Why Him? (2016)
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The story
Stanford student Stephanie Fleming invites her partner Laird Mayhew over to "Netflix and chill". Meanwhile, back home in Grand Rapids, Stephanie's dad Ned is celebrating his 55th birthday with friends and family at an Applebee's. During a slideshow presentation in his honor, Stephanie drops in via webcam to congratulate him, when suddenly Laird walks in on her and flashes the camera. After picking them up at the airport, Stephanie drives her family – parents Ned and Barb and younger brother Scotty – to Laird's Silicon Valley villa to meet him. She explains to Ned that Laird is the CEO of a video game company, which has made him extremely wealthy.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Stephanie Fleming drives her family to meet her wealthy boyfriend, Laird Mayhew, the CEO of a video game company, at his Silicon Valley villa. Laird gives the family a tour of his house, which includes a tank with a moose filled with urine and a bowling alley with a mural of Ned in a "crotch-chop" position. While walking in the woods, Laird asks Ned for his blessing to propose, but Ned says no. On Christmas Eve, Laird reveals he bought Ned's struggling printing company to clear his debts, but Ned punches him in the face, leading to a fight where Laird falls into the moose tank. The family leaves in anger. On Christmas Day, Laird arrives with Stephanie via helicopter. She refuses to talk to either of them. Eventually, Ned and Laird talk, and Laird gets Ned's blessing to propose, but Stephanie declines, saying she isn't ready for marriage but wants to keep dating. Ned and Scotty approach Laird with a business idea to sell the toilets from his home. They turn the printing company into a profitable toilet factory. Stephanie uses the conglomerate to help underdeveloped countries with sewage projects, and Laird finds himself part of a family.
- First release year
- 2016
- Runtime (minutes)
- 111
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- John Hamburg
- Writers
- John Hamburg · screenplay; Ian Helfer · screenplay; Jonah Hill · story; John Hamburg · story; Ian Helfer · story
- Cast and characters
- James Franco · Laird Mayhew; Bryan Cranston · Ned Fleming; Zoey Deutch · Stephanie Fleming; Megan Mullally · Barb Fleming; Cedric the Entertainer · Lou Dunne; Griffin Gluck · Scotty Fleming; Keegan-Michael Key · Gustav
- Genres
- romantic comedy
- Themes
- father-daughter relationships; class contrast; marriage
- Tone and mood
- romantic comedy; negative
- Premise and plot tags
- Christmas; billionaire; family dynamics
- Reception
- The film received generally negative reviews from critics but was a financial success, grossing $118.1 million worldwide on a $52 million budget.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 39 · scale: 100 · review count: 30
- Production trivia
- The film features cameos by technology, gaming, and entertainment figures including Elon Musk and Gene Simmons.; The film was originally planned for a November 11, 2016 release date.; The film was selected by the California Film Commission to receive $5.4 million in tax credits.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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